Wind screen for motor vehicles



Jan; 2, 11923. LMLMP;

C. G. THOMASON.

WIND SCREEN FOR MOTOR VEHICLES.

FILED JUNE 9, 1922. 2 SHEETS-SHEET, 1.

' Jan. 2, 1923. 1,441,943.

C. G. THOMASON.

wmn SCREEN FOR MOTOR VEHICLES.

FILED JUNE 9, [922. 2 SHEETS-SHEET Z.

CHABLE?) GORDON THUMASDN, (21 BIEBEIRGEXAK,

nnetenn.

WVEND SCREEN FUR EJ109303 VEHICLE$.

Application filed June 9,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that CHARLES GORDON TrioMAsoN, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at Acoeks Green, Birmingham, England, has invented certain new and useful Improvements in l i ind Screens for Motor Vehicles, of which the :lollowing is a specification.

My invention has reference to that type of rear seat windscreens for motor-vehicles in which the screen is carried by of hinged IOCS or bracket-members that telescope (when the screen is cut ot use) into sockets or tubular pillars lined to the body of the car at the back of the drivers sea One object of my said invention is to provide improved screen-supporting fittings of this telescoping bracket-rod type which will permit of the said rods, on being withdrawn from t e tubular pillars, to he turned rearwardly into a horizontal or approximately horizontal plane and to be there automatically but positively locked against side-play or lateral displacement in positions which permit of the screen being nivotally connected at its lower corners to the bracket rods by joints that are conveniently accessible for adjusting or altering the tilt of the said screen.

Another object of the said invention is to provide, in combination with the tubular pillar members ot the screen-supporting fittings, simple but eilective means wh reby the height or level of the screen can be adjusted to suit the height of the rear seat or according to the requirements of the passengers occupying such seat.

The present invention consists in i1n proved windscreen fittings ot the type re ilferred to wherein (in order to realize the 1922. Serial No. 567,139.

rods within the pillars and also in combining with the pillar terminals, adjustable rings or collars which constitute bearers for the bracket rods when the latter are in engagement with the terminal gaps, and are adapted to be adjusted upon the said terminals in manner which will alter the angle orv slope of the bracket rods relatively to their pillars.

A. rear-seat wind-screen embodying vmy improvements is shown in, the accompanying drawings, in which igure 1 is a perspective view showing the screen fitted behind the drivers seat of a car, and illustrating, in full and dotted lines respectively, the various position which the screen itseli and its bracket rods assume both when the said screen is in use or service and when it is folded or stowed away behind the drivers seat. The figure also illustrates the manner in which the fittings are manipulated for transferring the same from the stowed-away to the service position, or vice versa.

Figures 2 and 3 illustrate, upon an enlarged scale and partly in section and partly in elevation, the terminal fittings of one of the tubular pillars and the arrangement of the complementary bracket-rod. These views show the bracket-rod in its service position and exemplify the manner in which the screen height or level can be altered by means of adjustable collars on the pillarterminals.

vFigure a is a plan 01 Figures 2 and Figure 5 is a sectional view of one of the pillars with its bracket rod fully telescoped thereunto, showing the position which the rod occupies when the screen is stowed away.

Figure 6 is simila section to ll igure 5, but shows the bracketrod withdrawn to the full extent permitted by the internal. stopplug to which said rod is hinged; this being the position to which the rod has to be lifted before same can be turned rearwardly into its service position in engagement with the retaining gap of its pillar terminal.

The same letters oi? reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures of the drawings.

The screen construction shown in the illustrated application of 'my invention is light in weight, simple and cheap to manufacture, and capable of being fitted to a car without involving any damage to or derangement of existing upholstery or coachwork. It also enables. the screen to be easily manipulated or adjusted by the occupants consist of a pair of tubular or hollow standards a which are capable of being fitted in upright or approximately upright positions immediately behind the driving seat of a car by'stepping their lower ends into sockets which are fixed to the floor, as shown in Figure 1. The said lower ends of the pillars may be-brazed or screwed into the sockets which are preferably flanged so that they can be rigidly bolted or screwed directly to the floor to enable the whole structure to be fitted without involving any dis turhance or derangement of, or damage to, the upholstery or coachworlr of the vehicle. These pillars may be bracedtogether by transyerse tie-rods, and when such a rod is to brace their lower or foot ends, the same may be disposed at such a height above the fixing sockets, that it can begused' as a foot rail or foot-rest. Further, if desired, for the sake of additional rigidity, brackets or the like may be used for connecting the pillars, at or near their upper ends, to the back or the driving seat or to the sides oithe car-body.

In combination with such. a system of tubular pillars or uprights, I propose to use, as the secondary support on which the folding screen is actually mounted, a pair of bracket-arms or rods 7) that are adapted normally (or when the screen is in use) to be supported in horizontal and rearwardly extending positions from the upper cndsot the main pillars as shown in full lines in Figure 1, whereaswhen-the structure is collapsed or stowed away, these scc- I ondary s are telescoped or dropped into the pillars to which vthey are respecti ely at tached in such a way that the, so eon it self (which is hii'lged to the extremities of the said arms) can beitolded down to occupy a position close behind the said pillars, and close bshind'the back of thezdriying as illustrated by dotted linesin' Figure Tl. i

To provide for this action, and at the saine'time' ensure that the secondary arms shall befirmly supported in the horizontal plane when the structure is in use, each pillara is'fitted internally with asliding being. lifted to the positions where bracket rods can be lowered into engagewhich' will permit of the bracket-arm being turn-ed rearwardly into its servlce position for supporting the screen in the manner illustrated by the full lines in Figure 1,

whereas when it is required to stow the arm away, it is merely necessary to raise the said arm into alignment with the sliding plug when the arm-and-plug unit can be telescoped or dropped into the main pillar.

as shown in Figure 5. v v

To permit of the bracket armshinging backwards into horizontal relationshij withthe fixed pillars, and for loclring botharms against side play or lateral displacement,

-whenthe screen is extended, the top of the pillar 1S fitted with a fiXe'd'cap or terminal (Z which is also adapted to serve as a stop lguro 6) for preventing the complete withdrawal of the plug-tnd-arm unit I), 0,

and the rear sideol this cap (i. e., the l side whi h is opposite the back s'eatot the,

car when the structure is erected therein) formed with an upright gap or clearance e which is open at the upper end and is'o't' a width approximately equal to the d1- These' gaps in ameter of the bracket arm. t e two pillar terminals are disposed in the p anes in which the bracket-arms are adapted to make their respective angular move- :ents on the joints 0, so that when the arm-and-plug units have been lifted .in'

their pillars to positions in which the armyoints 0 come above the bottoms of the clear ances 1n the pillar-caps, the said clearances permit the arms to be turned rearwardly p into the horizontal position-in whichthey are automatically confined or locked against lateral play as shown in Figures 2, '3 and 4. I

withdrawal of the plug-and-arm units Z), 0'

are constituted by the shoulders J which are located inside the caps (Z, above and on either side oi the traps c, and areso disposed as to arrest the slides c on thelatter ment with the said gaps.

ilormally the welgrht and leverinp; efiiect oi the screen is suilicient to prevent vertical.

displacement or oscillation of the bracket rods within their retaining gaps-(2,. but if found desirable or expedient, I may use snap Or spring hinges for connecting thesame with the'internal plugs or slides a, or the said retaining clearances maybe-fitted with. spring or elastlc Lorclips-adaptthe ' The stops for preventing the complete ed to grip the shank oi' the bracket-rods when the latter are turned into their horizontal screen-supporting positions.

The ends of the bracket-rods remote from their connections .with the sliding plugs 0 are furnished with lugs or brackets to which are hinged at f the standard-rods g that carry the actual screen 7L. These lugs are preferably so cranked or shaped that, when the bracketrods are telescoped into the fixed pillars, they (the lugs) overhang or extend rearwardly beyond the pillar-caps to admit of the standard-rods g and the screen which is carried between them folding flat against the rear sides of the said main pillars. The joints 7 between the screen-standards and the end lugs of the bracket-rods may be of any convenient type that will provide for the adjustmentof the tilt or inclination of the screen when the latter is erected and for the locking or clamping of such screen rigidly at any selected angle of use, and also in its folded or stowed-away position.

as will be seen from the perspective view of the structure, the transfer of the screen from its service position to the stowed away position is effected by first turning the screen on the joints 7 into the plane of the. horizontal bracket-rods, when swinging the rods and screen into the vertical position indicated by dotted lines in the right-hand up per part of the figure, next lowering the bracket-rods into their respective pillars and finally folding the screen itself behind the said pillars where it is locked by tightening up the joints 7. The extension and erection of the screen into its service position is effected by reversing these operations.

The terminal-caps are provided with adjustable devices for determining the height or level at which the screen shall be carried in relation to the rear seat oi a vehicle when the ln'acket-rods are withdrawn and turned rearwardly into their position of use; an at vantage of such adjustment being that it enables screen fittings of one standard size to be readily adapted to suit any particular car irrespective of the height of its rear seat from the floor-level, whilst it also permits ml the screen. height being regulated or varind, within considerable limits, to suit a users requirements and further provides a means for setting both supporting arms in the same plane (horizontal or otherwise) to ensure that the screen shall be carried when in use, parallel to the seat level.

The adjusting device consists of a ring or collar 72. which is screwed or otherwise ad justably mounted on the terminal cap of each pillar a, in such a manner that when the corresponding bracket rod is turned rearwardly or lowered into its engagement with the rataining gap 6, the said rod will (if the adjusting collar is set in. an ei'ectire or operative position) bear or seat upon the upper edge of said collar instead of seating itself (as it would do in the absence of such adjustment) on the bottom of the retaining gap.

The point .at which the bracket rod bears upon the adjusting collar is but little removed rearwardly from the centre of the pivot c, whilst the fact that the said collar is adjustable on the pillar-terminal enables its upper edge to be set into a plane which is more. or less elevated from the bottom of the gap in the said terminal. Thus the collar constitutes, or is adapted to be used as, an adjustable top for varying or regulating angle or inclination at which the bracket-rod of the screen will come to rest on being 10wered into its retaining gap, and thereby determining the plane or level in which the screen will be supported in relation to the rear seat of the vehicle; it being understood that when the collar is set with its bearing edge below or in tl e same plane as the bot tom of the retaining gap (see Figure 2) the bracket-rod, on being lowered, will be supported by the terminal fitting in the horizontal or approximately horizontal position which gives the lowest level-adjustment for the screen, whereas if the stop-collar is raised to bring its bearing edge above the bottom of the terminal gap (see Figure 3) the bracket rod will be arrested at and supported by the said collar at an upward inclination (the angle of which will be determined by the setting of the collar) from the standard terminal, and will support the screen at a correspondingly. higher level above the floor of the car.

Means may be combined with the stop collar for locking or retaining the same in any adjusted position in relation to floor standard or pillar, although such locking or retaining means need not be used when the collar has a screw-thread connection with the pillar-terminal (as in the illustrated example) and is adjusted by rotating the same in one direction or the other.

Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Pat ent is 1. l i ind-screen fiittings of the telescop ing bracket-rod type wherein the rear sides of the fixed pillar terminals are formed with. gaps or clearances, arranged in the planes of movement of the hinged bracket rods. and. with which the corresponding bracket rods are engaged when lowered into their service positions, for the purposes herein set forth.

2. i Vind-screen fittings according to claim 1, wherein each gapped pillar-terminal embodies stops located above and on either side of the gap (-6), and so disposed scribed.

3. Wind-screen fittings according to claim l wherein the pillar-terminals are provided with adjustable collars or rings on which the bracket-rods may rest or be supported when engaged With their reta'ining- 10 gaps; the said collars beingadapted to serve as means for adjusting the height or level of the screen relatively to the seat sub stantially in the manner; and for the purposes herein set forth.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflik my signature.

- CHARLES GORDON. THOMAsON. 

